The ceremony of awarding diplomas to 41 graduates of the medical and dental studies conducted in the English language took place in the Auditorium “1000” in the Educational Centre of the Medical University in Łódź on June 8.

The ceremony was attended by over 200 guests. Numerous members of families and friends of the graduates, who traveled from as far-flung corners of the globe as Canada, USA, Syria, Malaysia, Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands arrived to take part in the ceremony.
The ceremony was dignified by the presence of  Prof. Lucyna Woźniak, M.D., Ph.D. – Vice-Rector for Science.

The authorities of the Department of Military  Medicine were represented by the Dean – Prof. Jurek Olszewski, M. D., Ph.D. and Vice Dean for Studies in English – Prof. Ireneusz Majsterek M.D., Ph.D., who conducted the whole ceremony.

Prof. Jerzy Sokołowski- Vice Dean of the Dentistry Department attended the ceremony as a representative of the Faculty of Medicine.
Honorable guests from the city and region institutions, including Ms. Jowita Mróz – a representative of the Lodz Voivode and Prof. Łukasz Sulkowski – a representative of Clark University in Poland, also took part in the ceremony.

Congratulatory speeches made by the representatives of the University and official guests followed the ceremonial singing of the National Anthem. A congratulatory letter  from the President of Łódź Hanna Zdanowska was also read out.

The highlight of the ceremony was the Hippocratic oath  followed by  the presentation of diplomas. Distinguished students were presented with their diplomas first:

• Richard Koziński, Poland – the 6-year curriculum
• Justyna Antczak, Poland – the 4-year curriculum
• Natalia Aleksandra Wozniak, Poland – dental curriculum

Students, who had engaged in the activities for the academic community:

• Sabina Zejnelagic, Norway – the 6-year curriculum
• Jonathon Matheu St. Onge, Canada – the 4-year curriculum
• Vishnu Panchal, United Kingdom – dental curriculum

All the distinguished  students were honored with special diplomas of recognition, souvenirs and a long ovation.
Handing a diploma to each graduate was accompanied by enthusiastic joy of their friends and the participants of the ceremony.
The rest of the ceremony included speeches delivered by the best students, the President of the Student Council for the English Curricula – Ms. Kamila Świętosławski and the Chairman of the Alumni Association – Mr. Vinayak Pradeep.

Graduates from previous years – Dr Umar Mushtaq and Dr Rezwan Samad  also delivered speeches. The words that they spoke to their younger colleagues were full of reflection and motivation for further professional and personal development.

Traditionally, the graduates chose the best teachers of the year. The awards were presented to:

• Doctor Paul Milner from the Department of Oral Surgery
• Doctor Sylwia Kałucka from the Department of Family Medicine
• Doctor Mariusz  Grzesiak from the Department of Obstetrics and Perinatology.

The final event of the official part of the ceremony was the performance of the Academic Choir of MUL, which aroused great enthusiasm among the gathered alumni and guests. The ceremony ended with the singing of the GAUDEAMUS anthem by the choir.

Then the caps of graduates “soared” up, flashes of cameras went off to capture those special and unique experiences.

It is worth mentioning, that once again the ceremony was broadcasted live via the Internet. Thanks to it anyone in the world could watch the event at home.